Sunday, 31 January 2016

In tribute to the passing of Terry Wogan, here's a clip from Vincent''s appearance on the TV legend's chat show on 21 June 1982, in which he talks about being an anglophile and collecting art, Oscar Wilde and The Harlot's House, and working with Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing on House of the Long Shadows.

Sunday, 24 January 2016

Here's a fun montage I've put together of all of the hip threads that Vinnie wore in the two Dr Goldfoot films. His super villain must have been moonlighting as a lounge singer judging from those satin brocade dinner jackets, while his undertakers garb is pure sophistication (love those grey gloves). Not sure about the floor length red coat, though. It looks like a reject from Fall of the House of Usher.

Wednesday, 20 January 2016

Coming 25 January 2016 is the UK Blu-ray debut of AIPs 1960s spy spoofs Dr Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine and Dr Goldfoot and the Girl Bombs from 101 Films.

Both films will also be available separately on DVD and in a Blu-ray or DVD box-set containing both films and a bonus DVD featuring Master of the World.

According to 101 Films, the transfers are from MGM but there are no extras, apart from the bonus film. But if you are not fussed about having an audio commentary (which came with the Kino Lorber releases last year - with the fab David Del Valle and filmmaker David De Coteau), then this is a cost effective alternative. Plus, Zavvi have £5 off at the moment, making the Blu-ray box-set just £19.99.

Sunday, 10 January 2016

“Good evening. We’re delighted that all of you could make it this evening because we have something special on tap. In the area of the occult it’s customary to preoccupy ourselves with witches, and too infrequently we dabble on the male side of that time-honored profession, the sorcerer. On display here is a painting showing the natural habitat of this species of black art practitioner: dark alley, murky light, a few sundry skulls, and the gentleman himself on the right of the picture with the upraised hand and the funny little goat horns. Yes indeed, this is a sorcerer, and for those of you who disbelieve his existence we invite you to check this out for a little while. Our painting is called The Return of the Sorcerer, and where better place for him to return than right here in the Night Gallery.”

The third and final season of Rod Serling’s anthology series kicked off on 24 September 1972 with this satanic tale (actually the fourth produced) directed by Jeannot Szwarc and starring Bill Bixby, Vincent Price and Tisha Sterling.

Adapted from the 1931 short story by Clark Ashton Smith, who was inspired by his friend HP Lovecraft’s Cthulhu mythology, it involves a reclusive academic, John Carnby (Price), who hires Arabic translator Noel Evans (Bixby) to divine an obscure passage from the infamous Necronomicon, which may help him fathom the mysterious death of his twin brother and fellow sorcerer, Helman.

But a monstrous curse of fire and dismemberment is attached to anyone who attempts to do so, which is why the two previous translators quit before finishing the job. To make matters worse, there’s something slithering and scuttling about in the shadows – and they may not be rats, after all…

Add in a black mass featuring actual incantations (that creeped out Sterling), a sinister eye-rolling turn from Price, and some severed limbs crawling about, and you have an episode that’s guaranteed to make your skin crawl.

It’s also one that will have you checking out the original story by
Clark Ashton Smith (I know I certainly did). But this being for TV meant
some few alterations, like the introduction of Tisha Sterling’s
seductive hippie assistant Fern and a bizarre scene involving a horned
goat who is supposed to be Carnby’s father. Then there's that deeply unsettling ending…

Saturday, 9 January 2016

Originally screened on NBC in the US on 22 September 1971, Class of ’99 was the third episode in the second season of Rod Serling’s Night Gallery. It was directed by Jeannot Szwarc (Jaws 2, Supergirl), whose still working on TV shows as diverse as Supernatural, Castle and Scandal.

Set in a university classroom in a futuristic 1999, it follows an oral final exam given by a professor (Vincent Price) who pits his students against each other over a range of subjects, including the sciences and behaviour. But to what end?

Written by Rod Serling, this cerebral and politically-charged, sci-fi tale benefits hugely from Price’s icy performance as the professor who, it turns out, is a cyborg programmed to maintain mankind’s legacy for racial, religious and social intolerance. Given the state of the world today, it's remains a chilling comment on how academia and other institutions can be used as a breeding ground for racial, class, and religious prejudice.

According to the review of this episode on the brilliant Rod Serling’s Night Gallery site, Price was as charming as his character was forbidding. ‘He was very accessible,’ recalls Frank Hotchkiss, who played Clinton. ‘He was quite the opposite of what I expected, and I was thrilled to have the chance to meet him. He opened that show beautifully with that minute monologue, which sets the whole thing in his inimitable fashion.’

Friday, 8 January 2016

Being a huge fan of the original TV series, DC's Batman '66 has been a nostalgic treat and I'm a bit sad to see it come to an end after 30 issues.

The excellent covers, drawings and stories have been a fitting tribute to the show's retro look and tongue-in-cheek tone, and what's more, they also brought back to life some key villains who were created especially for the 1960s show – none more so than the world's greatest criminal brain, Egghead (played, of course, by Vincent Price), who got his own stand-alone story in Issue 16.

The final case for the Dynamic Duo (again featuring superb likenesses of both Adam West and Burt Ward) sees them facing a sinister plot being hatched in an empty film studio and ending up battling nearly every villain in Gotham, expect the Riddler. Amongst them is Egghead, who gets in a couple of EGG-cellent lines, while keen eyed readers will spot the brain-drain machine from the second season TV episode, An Egg Grows in Gotham.

When I watched the show as an eight year old, I always imagined that it was Egghead who appeared in the opening credits (it wasn't). But thanks to this final Batman '66 caper, its been made a reality as the artists have managed to paint Eggy into an homage of that iconic sequence. Thanks guys!

Issue 30 might be the end of the regular series, but all is not lost, Batfans! A series of specials are already in the pipeline, with the first being a crossover with The Man from U.N.C.L.E. that's already hit the shelves. And speaking of crossovers, I do so wish they do Get Smart next - with Price's pill-popping Jarvis Pym making a cameo, or even Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, with Price's deadly dolls going on the rampage. Oh the joy of feeling like an eight-year-old again….

Wednesday, 6 January 2016

Now this is one book everyone must add to their collection, 70s
MONSTER MEMORIES. It's a real labour of love written by fans for fans and
one that I'm hugely proud to have contributed to, writing an in-depth
article on Vincent Price's BBC horror anthology series THE PRICE OF FEAR (which you can read in full by clicking on the link).

Of course, there are loads of other treats in store with chapters
on film tie-ins, Aurora model kits, TV movies, iconic magazines like
Famous Monsters of Fimland and The House of Hammer, and those legendary books by
Denis Gifford and Alan Frank that informed a whole generation of
Monster Kids.